This invention relates to a method for monitoring the process execution of a computer program, more particularly for monitoring the installing process of an application program on window-based platforms.
On a Microsoft window-based operating platform such as the Win95, 98 and NT, an application program has at least one process execution. The operating system will give every process a number called xe2x80x9chandlexe2x80x9d for identification. To monitor the executions of application programs is an important article. In the prior art, there exist two methods for monitoring the installing processes of application programs on window-based platforms. One is used to monitor the application programs that each their setup program has only one process, and the other one monitors those with more than one process in their setup program. As shown in FIG. 1, a monitoring system 11 is used to monitor the execution of a simple application program 12 whose setup program has just only one process, where both programs are executed on a Microsoft window-based operating system. In FIG. 2, another monitoring system 11a, executed on a Microsoft window-based operating system, monitors the execution of a complex application program 13 which possesses a first sub-process 131 and a second sub-process 132. In order to monitor the complex application program 13, the most important objective is to completely trace its execution process and all its sub-processes. Hence, it is basic to know the number of sub-processes of a monitored application program. If we want to monitor an application program without knowing the number of sub-processes and the relation of all processes, a more powerful monitoring system is really required.
The objective of the present invention is to provide a method for monitoring the executions of application programs on window-based operating platforms such as Microsoft Win95, 98 and NT.
To monitor the execution of an application program on an window-based operating platform, the method of the present invention is first to collect the information of all executed processes, and then to build up a history table of all processes for finding out the main process of the execution of the application program. Next, according to the processes"" handles saved in the history table, the monitoring method is to extract all sub-processes of the main process and create the relation of all process execution of the application program. Finally, hierarchically trace and monitor all executed processes of the application program.